The Beginning
by FemaleThunder
Summary: Prequel to 'Tracy sister'. After Lucy's death, Jeff retreats into his work, leaving his children to look after each other. What happens when Evelyn starts to separate herself from her brothers? What is she hiding? Will they help her in time? Or will it be too late? Movieverse. Wee-Tracy story. Mentions of abuse.
1. Chapter 1

The beginning

Summary:

Prequel to 'Tracy sister'. After Lucy's death, Jeff retreats into his work, leaving his children to look after each other. What happens when Evelyn starts to separate herself from her brothers? What is she hiding? Will they help her in time? Or will it be too late?

Chapter 1

"Ok Lucy. One more push." The doctor said to Lucy Tracy as she gave birth to her 3rd child.

"Jeff you are never touching me again!" She yelled at her husband, the billionaire ex-astronaut, Jeff Tracy.

"That's what you said when you had Scott and John." He replied, earning the scariest look his wife had ever given him. "I'll shut up."

"Baby's clear." The doctor said, giving the baby to the nurse to be cleaned and weighed. "Congratulations. It's a boy."

"So, are you sticking to your astronaut naming system?" Lucy asked, slightly breathless.

"Of course. Virgil Grissom. What do you think?" He said with a smile, kissing his wife on her head.

"I love it." She said, smiling.

"Alright. The other one will be along in a minute." The doctor said, making Jeff and Lucy freeze and look at him with wide eyes.

"The other one?" Jeff asked.

"Yes. You're having twins. You did know that, didn't you?" He asked, looking at the couple in confusion.

Lucy felt a pain in her stomach and gasped. "I do now!" She snapped. She gave birth to their 4th child quickly, shouting profanities at Jeff, who had never feared for his man hood as much as he did in that moment.

"Congratulations. It's a girl." The doctor said, handing the baby to the nurse to be cleaned before handing both babies to their parents.

"What shall we call her?" Jeff asked, looking down at the little girl in his arms before looking at the boy in his wife's arms.

"Evelyn. Evelyn Jane Tracy." Lucy replied, smiling at her husband.

"After your grandmother?" Jeff asked, smiling at his daughter.

"Yes. You name the boys after astronauts, I name the girl after someone I actually knew." She replied, making Jeff laugh.

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"Mum! I want to go outside!" Evelyn said in their holiday home on a ski resort. Her, Virgil and Lucy were the only ones there since Jeff had taken the other boys to get food and medicine for the ill girl. She had been suffering from a head cold and even though she was better, they were taking no chances. The only reason that Virgil was still there was because he refused to leave his twin.

"No Evelyn. You are still ill and we aren't going to take any chances." Lucy said, kissing her 8 year old daughter on her head. "Why don't you watch a film while Virgil and I finish making the soup?" She suggested. She put Beauty and the Beast, Evelyn's favourite film, on and went back into the kitchen with her son.

Evelyn watched 5 minutes of the film before looking out of the window at the falling snow. She thought that it wouldn't hurt to go out for a bit, so she ran to the door, her shoes already on, and out into the snow when the ground started to shake. Her mum and Virgil ran to the open door and Lucy ran out to her daughter, seeing the avalanche behind her. She grabbed the girl and started to run back to the house. She knew that she would never make it back to the house, so when she was close enough, she threw Evelyn to her brother, who tried to catch her, but she landed on her foot funny before falling on her wrist. They turned around in time to see their mum being swept away by the snow.

"MUM!" They screamed. Virgil saw the snow heading towards the house and shut the door, just before the snow hit it. "NO!" Evelyn yelled, banging the door. Virgil wrapped his arms around his twin and she cried into his shoulder. "What do we do Virge?" She asked. He grabbed the phone and sat on the floor, his back against the wall with Evelyn next to him. He dialled his father's number and wrapped his arm around Evelyn's shoulder.

"Hello?" Scott answered the phone. Virgil put it on loud speaker so that Evelyn could hear.

"Scooter?" He asked, his voice thick. "Where's Dad?"

"He's driving. What's wrong?" The 11 year old asked, hearing the sadness in his brother's voice.

"Put him on please." Evelyn said in a sad voice.

"Virgil? Evelyn? What's wrong?" Jeff's voice rang out, full of worry.

"Dad." Evelyn cried, making Virgil tighten his grip on her.

"Evelyn? What is it?" Jeff asked. They heard the car's engine cut out and assumed he pulled over.

"Mum's gone." Virgil whispered.

"Gone? What do you mean gone?" Jeff asked. They could hear the sadness and disbelief in his voice.

"The ground shook and mum got taken by the snow." He said to his father.

"No." Jeff breathed. "Where are you two now?"

"We're in the house. The door is blocked by snow." Virgil said.

"We're coming back now. I'll send people to get you out and look after you." Jeff said. They could hear the tears in his voice as he put Scott back on the phone.

"Virgil? Evie?" He asked. They could hear Gordon and John in the background, asking what was happening.

"Hi scooter." Evie whispered, her tears stopped for now.

"Are you two ok?" He asked.

"I'm scared. But I don't know about Evie." Virgil replied. "Wait a second." He looked at his sister in worry. "Evie? Are you hurt?"

"My arm and leg hurt." She said in a small voice.

Virgil, who had watched many hospital shows, touched Evie's arm, earning a hiss. "I think she broke something Scooter." He said.

"Ok Virge. Dad's sending some people to help you." He replied. "Got watch some TV. They'll be 10 minutes."

15 minutes later, Jeff stopped the car behind the ambulance and rushed towards it, telling his 4 son's to stay put.

"Evelyn! Virgil!" He yelled as he saw his twins in the ambulance. Virgil ran to him and hugged him while the paramedic had to hold Evelyn to the bed. "Are they ok?"

"Virgil is a little shaken, but otherwise fine. Evelyn had a sprained ankle and a broken arm. We need to take her to the hospital to get an x-ray and put a cast on it." The paramedic said, pushing some stray red hair behind her ear. "Someone will have to go in the ambulance with her."

"What about my wife? Did you find her?" Jeff asked, holding Virgil close to him.

"We found the body of a female woman down the hill. I am sorry sir." She said. Jeff let a few tears out and bent down, burying his face in his son's hair.

"What about my son's? There is no one to look after them." He said, looking up again.

"An officer can take them to the hospital and look after them until Evelyn is discharged." She said. Jeff nodded before walking over to his car and getting his son's out. He handed the sleeping Alan in his car seat to the officer, who got him secured in his police car.

"Boys, this police man is going to take you to the hospital. OK? I'll meet you there once your sister has been checked out." He said, looking at them with sad eyes.

"Where's mummy?" Gordon asked, looking sad and worried.

"Mummy's gone to live with the angels." He said, hugging his son before letting the officer get them in the car.

"DAD!" Virgil screamed. Jeff looked around to see the paramedic trying to drag Virgil away from Evelyn, while another held her to the bed.

"HEY!" He yelled, running over and taking Virgil from the paramedic's hold on him and he immediately ran to his sister, grabbing her uninjured hand. "What are you doing?"

"He can't go in the ambulance. He is fine and needs to go with the others." She said, sounding extremely annoyed.

"There is no way that he is going anywhere his twin sister isn't, especially when she is hurt!" Jeff snapped, getting into the ambulance and pulling Evelyn onto his lap and holding Virgil to his side. They stayed like that until they got to the hospital, where they realised that the only way they could get a cast on Evelyn's arm was if she was sat on Jeff's lap and held Virgil's hand with her uninjured one.

Jeff booked them into a hotel for the night and rang his parent's, and Lucy's family, to let them know what happened. He left Scott and John in the room with their siblings while he made the calls so that they couldn't see how vulnerable he was. He had to stay strong for them and not let them see how much this had destroyed him inside. Once he had put a brave face on, he made sure that Scott, John and Gordon were in a room together and settled down, before going into the adjoining room that he was sharing with Virgil, Evelyn and Alan. He put Alan into the crib the hotel had provided and made sure the twins were asleep, before getting into his own bed and finally letting the tears fall. He was silently grieving for his wife, the love of his life, when he heard a shout from the other side of the room.

"MUMMY! NO!" Evelyn shouted, making him shoot across the room in a way only a father could. He saw that she was still asleep, just having a nightmare, so he quickly woke her so she didn't disturb her sleeping twin on the other side of the double bed.

"Evelyn, sweetie." He soothed, shaking her awake. She buried her face in his chest and cried into him. He carried her across the room to his bed and lay down with her in his embrace. "It's ok sweetie. It's ok." He whispered, running his hand through her hair.

"I'm sorry Daddy. It's my fault." She whispered as she started to fall back to sleep.

"It's not your fault darling. It's not your fault." He whispered, kissing her hair.

**Here is the first chapter guys. This is the prequel to 'Tracy sister' and will explain some extra details for the sequel I am planning to write. **

**Please let me know what you think.**

**Emma**


	2. Chapter 2

The Beginning

**Ages from this chapter and their nicknames;**

**Scott: 16 Smother Hen  
>John: 15 Star<br>Evelyn: 13 Belle (From Beauty and the Beast)  
>Virgil: 13 Paint<br>Gordon: 12 Little Red  
>Alan: 6 Sprout<strong>

Chapter 2

5 years later.

"I CAN'T FIND MY SHOE!" Gordon yelled as 4 boys ran around the house. It was the first day back at school after the summer and it was as hectic as ever. Jeff had buried himself in his work for the last 5 years and was once again at the office, leaving his 6 children to get to school themselves. Evelyn was trying to get Alan ready, but the stubborn 6 year old didn't want to keep his clothes on. Since he was younger, he had to go to a different school to his siblings and he didn't like being left while they all went to 'big school'. Scott and Virgil were trying to find their ties while John was trying to find his book, and Gordon's latest disappearance was his shoe.

"Check your room!" Evie yelled back as she tried to get Alan to keep his shirt on. "Alan. If you stop messing around and go to school, I'll buy you ice cream on the way home." She reasoned, making the boy stop struggling and letting his sister pull the shirt back over his head.

"I already checked!" Gordon yelled as Scott ran down the stairs, his bag in hand.

"Evie, have you seen mine and Virgil's ties?" He asked, dropping the bag by the door.

"On the kitchen table, where you left them last night." She replied, getting up and grabbing Alan's shoes, not noticing when the boy ran off, as Virgil ran down the stairs. "Virge, can you help Gordon find his shoe?"

"Already done. It was under Alan's bed." He said, taking his tie from Scott. "Speaking of the sprout, where is he?" Evie turned around to see Alan missing.

"ALAN! Come on!" She yelled, making him run into the room and take his shoes from her.

"Umm… Evie?" She turned back to see Virgil holding his tie in front of him. She took it and tied it around his neck for him, before repeating the process on Gordon who ran into the room with his tie around his head.

"You guys are going to have to learn how to tie those yourself." She said, grabbing her bag and walking towards the door, grabbing her purse on the way.

"John! Let's go!" Scott yelled as he grabbed his and Alan's bags. "Come on sprout. Or you won't get that ice cream Evie promised you. John!" He said, taking Alan's hand as they waited outside for John.

"Why can't I go to school with you guys?" Alan asked as Evie and Virgil tried to get Gordon to stand still.

"Because you're not old enough. You need to finish your school before you can go to our school." Scott replied before looking back at the house. "JOHN!"

"I'm here." John said as he ran out of the house, locking the door behind him.

"What took you so long?" Virgil asked as they started to walk towards Alan's school.

"I couldn't find my book!" He replied, making the twins laugh. They heard shouting at looked behind them to see paparazzi running up to them from behind. "Great. First day back and we get papped." He moaned.

"Nothing new." Scott said, holding onto Alan's hand tighter. "Just ignore them Al. Don't let go of my hand, ok?" He said to their youngest brother.

"Ok Scotty." He replied. The paparazzi scared him, so he had no issue following his brother's orders, for once.

"Why is it always the first day back at school?" Gordon asked as John put his arm around the red-head's shoulders.

"Because they have nothing better to do." Evie joked as they caught up to the 6 children. They started snapping pictures of them and shouting questions at them, ignoring the way Alan pressed himself further into Scott's leg, or the glares the eldest was throwing at them.

"Scott! John! Is it true you are more like your sibling's father than your dad is?" One shouted at them.

"How are you coping without your mother?" Another asked. The 4 boys made a shield around Alan, protecting him from the flashing cameras, but none of them noticed when Evie got surrounded by them.

"Evelyn! What happened to your mother? Is it true that your dad abandoned you? Is it true that he is a drunk?" Were some of the questions shouted at her as she froze, scared and startled.

Scott looked back and saw that Evie was surrounded and looking scared. "Look after Alan!" He shouted at his brothers, running to his sister and pushed the paparazzi out of the way to get to her. "Leave her alone." He snapped, pulling her to his side and pushing their way back to their brothers. They were just outside Alan's school and saw the head teacher and some of the other teachers running towards them.

"Is it true that it is Evelyn's fault that your mother is dead?" Someone shouted, clearly not getting the message, making Evie freeze and Scott spin around, about to punch the man, when Alan's head teacher, Mrs Green, grabbed his wrist and escorted the siblings into the school, with Gordon and John on either side of Alan and Virgil and Scott on either side of Evie while the other teachers kept the paparazzi outside the gates, calling for the police.

"Alan. Please get to your classroom." Mrs Green said to the young boy, who left the office with a pout. "You 5, I will ask Collin to take you the rest of the way to school in the minibus and I will call your father and let him know what happened." She called for the school's caretaker, Collin, and walked into her office. "It's the same every year." She mumbled as she closed the door, leaving the 5 Tracy's to wait for Collin.

"Evie, you know that mum's death isn't your fault, right?" Scott asked as he held his sister close to him.

"Yeah, I know." She whispered, mainly to pacify him. She still felt guilty about it and thought that she would never get over it. The man's question still rang through her brain and the more she thought about it, the more guilt she felt.

When Collin arrived with the minibus, they climbed on and Evie took the single seat at the back. She saw the paparazzi waiting around the corner from the school, waiting to catch them on their way to school. As Gordon had said, it happened every year, but Evie had never been cornered like that, and she had never been asked that question. It shook her more than she cared to let on, and she knew that she wouldn't be able to forget it.

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Jeff Tracy sat at his desk, buried in work. He felt guilty about not being around for his children, but he believed that they were better without him. He looked at the picture on his desk of Alan's first birthday and felt sadness wash over him. That was the only birthday he had spent with his youngest son. All of his children and Lucy were in the picture, looking happy and carefree. He felt despair that he would never get to see his wife again, and knew that Alan wouldn't even remember her.

He was bought out of his musings by his secretary, Jenny, over the intercom. "Mr Tracy, Mrs Green from Alan's school is on line one for you." She said, making him sigh.

"Ok. Thank you Jenny." He replied, picking up the phone. "Mrs Green, what can I do for you?" He asked as he answered.

"Mr Tracy, I just wanted to let you know that the paparazzi cornered your children outside the school again. I got them into the school and had Collin take Scott, John, Virgil, Evelyn and Gordon to their school." She said.

"Right. Thank you. I'll see if I can sort something out." He said, rubbing his face.

"That's not all. I don't know what it was, but one of them said something that made Scott try to punch him. I intervened before anything happened." That caught Jeff's interest. Scott had never been a violent person, but would do whatever it took to protect his siblings. "Also, Evelyn was particularly shaken. From what I managed to gather from Alan, the paparazzi cornered her in particular and asked her questions about their mother's death. I don't know what was said, but it was enough to scare the poor girl." Jeff fell back in his chair, shocked. Evelyn was never usually fazed by the paparazzi and usually just ignored them. She was a brave girl, braver than most 13 year old girls, which made him think that whatever they said to her must have been bad, or struck a nerve, to get that sort of reaction.

"Is she ok?" He asked, worried at what had shaken her.

"She is fine. Just shaken. I was just concerned because I have never seen her like that. Not since Gordon broke his arm. Whatever was said must have struck a nerve."

"I think that whatever was said to Evelyn may be why Scott was ready to throw punches. He is only ever violent when he feels he needs to protect his siblings." Jeff said, thinking aloud. "Thank you Mrs Green. I'll have a word with them tonight." He hung up and got back to his work, knowing full well that particular conversation wouldn't go well.

A few hours later, Evelyn sat under a tree in the school field, avoiding her brothers who were most likely in the cafeteria, shovelling food into the bottomless pits they called their stomachs. Ever since the run in with the paparazzi, she had been ignoring them, wanting time alone to think.

"Hey, you're Evelyn right?" She looked up to see a boy looking down at her. She recognised him as a boy from Scott's year.

"Yeah." She mumbled, a little sick of everyone knowing her name because of who her father is.

"I'm Richard. I'm in Scott's year." He said, sitting next to her.

"I know." She said, trying not to be rude.

"So, what are you doing out here? Don't you usually eat lunch with your brothers?" He asked, looking at the un-opened packet of crisps on top of her bag.

"I wanted to be alone." She said, emphasising the last word.

"Want to talk about it?" He asked, clearly not getting the hint.

"Nope." She said. They sat there for the rest of the lunch hour, not talking, before the bell went off, signalling the start of afternoon lessons.

"Hey," He said as she stood up and grabbed her bag. "If you ever need to talk, I'm here. Ok?"

"Thanks." She said before walking to her next class.

"Hey sis." Virgil said as she took her seat next to him in maths. "Where were you at lunch?"

"You mean you actually looked up from your plate long enough to realise I wasn't there?" She replied, feigning shock.

"Haha. You know we do talk when we eat." He replied with a laugh.

"Only when your mouth is full so no one can understand you." She replied, making him mess up her hair.

"Evelyn Tracy. Still here?" A snobby voice asked from behind the twins, making Evie scowl.

"No. I'm actually in outer space, orbiting the Earth in a tin can. What do you think?" She said sarcastically, turning around to face Lisa Watts, the girl that Evie hated with a passion and pushed Gordon down the stairs last year, making him break his arm. Virgil had to cough to hide his laugh at Evie's comment.

"I think that you are trying to steal your father's fame. Do you know how many times you have been on the front of papers and magazines during the summer?" Lisa asked, her voice sounding even more snobby.

"It's not like I ask for it." Evie mumbled.

"And what is this I hear about you being the reason behind your mother's death?" She asked, making Virgil's eyes harden and Evie's widen.

"Hey, back off." He spat, putting an arm around his sister.

"Aww! Is brother dearest protecting you? Are you so weak that you can't even fight your own battles?" She continued, completely ignoring Virgil.

"I don't need anyone to fight my battles." Evie snapped, standing up. The whole class turned around to watch the 2 girls. "So why don't you back off before I personally send you to hell." The teacher walked in then, making Lisa walk to her own desk. Evie sat down, still angry about what she said.

"Just ignore her." Virgil whispered as the teacher took the register. "Or if that fails, I know a Smother Hen that is in need of a good fight." He said, making her giggle at the thought of their Smother Hen, Scott, getting involved.

**Here you go guys! What do you do when you're off college sick? Write FanFic's of course! Sorry if some of it doesn't make sense, on a lot of medication at the minute.**

**Thanks for the positive reviews and favourites/follows! They mean a lot.**

**Emma**


	3. Chapter 3

The beginning

Chapter 3

"Hey Sprout." Scott greeted as the youngest Tracy ran out of his school and towards his siblings. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah!" Alan shouted. "Evie, do I still get that ice cream?" He asked, his eyes widening innocently.

"Course you do Sprout. I did make you a promise." Evie said, grabbing his hand as they walked to the park. "Just don't tell Grandma." She whispered.

They each got an ice cream and ate them the rest of the way home, walking into the house to find that Jeff was already home. Something that hadn't happened in years.

"Hi Dad." Evie said as she and Virgil ran past to their room, probably to play some music on their respective instruments.

"Scott, can I have a word?" He asked, walking into his office with the 16 year old behind him.

"What happened this morning?" He asked, sitting behind his desk.

"Some paparazzi cornered us. It happens every year." The teenager replied, sitting on the sofa in the corner of the room.

"I know. Mrs Green always tells me. But she said that this time was different." He leant forward on the desk. "What happened? Evelyn is never affected by paparazzi and you are hardly ever violent."

"It's nothing Dad. That idiot just accused Evie of being the reason behind mum's death." He said, his anger evident. Jeff felt a pang at his heart at the mention of his wife's death.

"That doesn't sound like nothing. Why would he ask that?"

"How the hell should I know?" Scott snapped, standing up and pacing.

"Scott! I'm just concerned." Jeff replied, trying to calm down the young boy. "I'm just trying to protect you all."

"You've never bothered before, why start now?" Scott snapped, regretting his words immediately.

"That's enough Scott!" Jeff snapped. "Everything I do I do for you! All of you!"

"Really? Then where were you on all of our birthdays for the past 5 years?" Scott asked, continuing before Jeff had the chance to answer. "What is Alan's favourite food? Or his favourite colour? What is Evie's favourite song? What does Virgil do whenever Evie is upset?" Jeff was silent for a few moments as he tried, and failed, to find the answers. "My point exactly." He said, walking out of the room to see John and Gordon sat in the living room.

"Well, we heard that all the way out here." Gordon said with a cheeky grin.

"Shut it Gordon." Scott snapped, falling into the sofa.

"What was that all about?" John asked, turning the TV off and turning to his older brother.

"Dad was asking about this morning. He said that he was concerned and trying to protect us." Scott replied, not realising that Jeff was stood in the doorway behind them, listening to what they said.

"Well then where has he been?" Gordon asked, making Jeff realise that they all thought the same thing.

"That's what I asked." Scott replied, resting his head on the back of the sofa and closing his eyes. "I just don't get it. He says that everything he does is for us, but then he couldn't even answer simple questions that I asked him."

"What did you ask?" John asked.

"What Alan's favourite food is…" Scott started.

"Pizza." John and Gordon replied instantly.

"What his favourite colour is…"

"Red." They replied again, making Jeff feel quilty.

"What Evie's favourite song is…"

"Les Misérables, One Day More because of some technical stuff." John said off the top of his head. He had asked his sister a lot of times why she liked that song, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't figure out what she was talking about.

"And what Virgil does when Evie is upset." Scott finished.

"He takes the tub of cookie dough ice cream out of the freezer, sit with her till late at night and talk and then he will fall asleep with her on one of their beds." Gordon said with a smile. "He thinks no one knows about the ice cream, but we've all seen him take it."

Jeff walked to the kitchen, falling into one of the chairs at the table, feeling guilty and like he didn't know his children at all. It was hard for him to accept Lucy's death, and even harder for him to stay strong for his children. He knew that he should have been there for him, his mother had said it countless times, but he just couldn't face them. He couldn't be what they needed.

"How could he not know?" Gordon asked. Scott put his arm around him and sighed.

"Because he is never here. He never spends time with us anymore." He whispered as Evie ran down the stairs. "What's the rush Belle?" He asked, using her nickname. They called her Belle from Beauty and the Beast since that is still one of her favourite films.

"I've got to make dinner." She said, going into the kitchen. "Hi Dad." She said, seeing him sat at the kitchen table. She started to pull items out of the fridge, deciding to make spaghetti bolognaise.

"What are you doing?" Jeff asked, wondering why she was pulling all this food out.

"Making dinner. I can never cook enough for that lot." She said, shocking Jeff. He didn't even know that she was the one that cook all the time. He assumed it would be Scott.

"Doesn't Scott cook?" He asked, voicing his thoughts.

"Haha. If you want the house burnt down than sure." She laughed. "Scott's an awful cook. Last time he was cooking, he caused that burn mark on the ceiling." She said, making Jeff's eyes light with recognition.

"Ooh! I thought that was Gordon messing with candles again." He said, making her laugh. "You know what, put that stuff away. I'm ordering a take out." He said with a smile. Evie knew that he was trying to make up for what he now knew, but she didn't care. Any reason not to cook enough for an army.

After everyone had gone to bed, Jeff was walking along the corridor when he heard voices coming from Evie and Virgil's room. He pressed his ear to the door to hear what they were saying.

"What do you mean? He actually asked you that?" Virgil asked, he could hear another noise, and from what he heard earlier, he assumed that they were eating cookie dough ice cream.

"Yeah. Scott was pissed." She replied.

"I saw. It looked like he was about to punch that guy." Jeff realised that they were talking about their run in with the paparazzi.

"He was. I couldn't believe it. But it kinda bought up old memories you know." She said.

"Evie, it wasn't your fault. There is nothing you could have done." Virgil said.

"I could have stayed put. It was my stupid decision that caused this." She replied.

"It isn't! It is just something that happened!" Virgil said forcefully. "You know, I think we should probably stop eating this ice cream. You're starting to look a little chubby."

"I'm looking chubby? What about you?" She laughed. "Thanks Virge. I needed that." They stopped talking and Jeff assumed that they had gone to bed. He walked to his own bedroom and fell onto the bed. He decided that he would change things from now on. He would be there for his children.

**And here's the next chapter!**

**Hope it's alright for you guys.**

**Emma**


	4. Chapter 4

The beginning

Chapter 4

The next morning, Evie got up early like always and went down stairs to get breakfast ready, only to see her Dad plating a full English breakfast on 7 plates. "Dad? What are you doing?" She asked, pulling the carton of orange juice out of the fridge and taking a drink from the carton.

"Use a glass Evelyn." Jeff said, only for her to roll her eyes. "And I am making breakfast. Can you wake your brothers up?"

"Sure." She walked to the kitchen door. "BREAKFAST!" She yelled, making Jeff jump and nearly drop the plate of toast he was holding.

"I meant go upstairs and wake them up." He laughed as 5 pairs of feet ran down the stairs, only to stop dead when they saw their Dad at the table with Evie.

"Dad? What are you doing?" Scott asked, taking his seat at the table.

"I am spending time with my family." He said as his mobile rang. He answered it without even looking at the number. "Jeff Tracy." He answered, his face falling as the person on the other end spoke. "Oh. I completely forgot! Can we not reschedule? Ok. I'm on my way Jenny." He hung up the phone and stood up. "I'm sorry kids. I have to go to work." He left the room and quickly got into his car, leaving 6 kids sat looking at the door in shock.

"I knew it was too good to be true." Evie whispered, getting up and walking up stairs, leaving her breakfast un-touched.

"Every time I think he's changing, he does something like this." Scott said as Alan stuffed his face with food. "Slow down there Sprout. You don't want to choke." He took the young boy's fork and gave him a drink. "Come on. We have to get ready for school."

"Evie?" Virgil asked, walking into their room to see his twin sister doing her hair. "You ok?"

"I'm fine." She said, not looking at him.

"No you're not. You only say you're fine when you're upset or angry." He replied, pulling out his clothes for the day. "So I repeat. You ok?"

"No. I thought that we were finally getting our Dad back! That things would go back to how they were." She said, dropping the hair brush and sitting on her bed. "I should have known this time would be no different."

"Hey, it was a start. At least he's trying." Virgil said. "Just give him a chance."

"How many more chances do we have to give him? He's had 5 years' worth of chances." She said, looking up at her twin. "How many more times is he going to do this? How long is it going to take for him to realise that he practically abandoned us and left us to raise ourselves? When will he realise that we need him?"

Virgil dropped his clothes on his bed and sat next to his sister, pulling her into a hug. "I don't know Evie. I don't know." He whispered. He stood up and grabbed his clothes again. "Come on. We need to get ready for school." He said before walking to the bathroom to get washed and dressed.

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"Well, if it isn't Evelyn Tracy again." Richard said as he sat next to the young girl under the tree they sat under the day before. "Not at lunch again?"

"What does it look like?" She snapped.

"Woah! Chill. I was only joking." He said, putting his hands up in mock surrender.

"Sorry. I'm just in a bad mood." She replied.

"Want to talk about it?"

"Nope." She said immediately. They sat in silence for a few seconds. "I just thought that things would change. I thought that Dad was actually going to spend more time with us! I thought that everything would go back to normal." She said, putting her head on the tree behind her.

"Maybe he is trying. And by the sounds of it, nothing is ever normal in your family." He laughed, only to receive a cold look. "Sorry."

"It's ok. I'm just through with everything." She said.

"How about this. I will take you out tonight. Give you a break." He said with a smile.

"Thanks." She smiled. "But no. I have a lot to do tonight."

"Oh come on! What do you have to do that is so important?" He asked.

"I have to cook, clean, help Alan and Gordon with their homework, do my own homework and take Gordon swimming." She said, reeling off her list for a typical Tuesday night.

"Well, someone else can cook…"

"Who? Scott can burn water, John doesn't know how to use the oven, Virgil doesn't know where the pans are kept and Gordon and Alan are too young to cook." She said.

"Well, some would say that you are too young to cook." He replied. "And as I was going to say, other people can do those things. You don't have to."

"Look. It was a nice offer, but the answer is no. I am needed at home." She said, getting up and grabbing her bag. "And don't ask me again." She walked to the library and sat down, pulling out a book and starting to read.

"I could always demand it." Richard said, making Evie jump as he sat next to her a few minutes later.

"Are you stalking me?" She asked, putting her book down.

"Nope. I'm just a guy that doesn't take no for an answer." He replied with a wink.

"Look, you are 3 years older than me. I am 13! I am not going to go out with you. Ever." She snapped. "Now leave me alone."

"You are very grown up for a 13 year old. Very mature." He said.

"I had to grow up. I had no choice." She said, picking her book up and continuing to read.

"Everyone had a choice." He said, trying not to let his anger show.

"Not me." She snapped. She saw John enter the library over Richard's shoulder and stood up. "Bye." She said, grabbing her stuff and walking over to John, flopping down opposite him at the table.

"What's up Belle?" He asked, looking at her over his space book.

"Just annoyed Star." She replied, using his nickname. "Why aren't you in the café with the others?"

"Gordon's having the curry." He said, his face scrunching up.

"Eww. I can't even look at a curry anymore." She said, her face showing her disgust. Last time they had eaten curry, Gordon had made the biggest mess in the world and had even managed to spit it up over John, which explained why he had left.

"Why do you think I left?" He laughed. "So, what's the plan for tonight?" He asked.

"Well, if you could take Gordon swimming and help him with his homework, then I will help Alan with his and cook." She said, already thinking of what to cook.

"Deal." He laughed. The bell went and they walked to their next lessons, Evie avoiding Richard as much as she could.

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"Gordon! Time to go!" John yelled up the stairs later that evening. "Evie, where is the key?"

"On the table where you left it." She replied from the kitchen table where she sat helping Alan with his homework.

"Oh, thanks. GORDON!" He yelled again. "Where is he?"

"Did you check the door?" Virgil asked, walking past.

"The door?" Virgil opened the door to reveal Gordon sat on the front step. John looked at him in shock. "How did you know he'd be there?"

"That's where he always is." Virgil replied, walking back upstairs.

"Let's go! We're wasting precious swimming time!" Gordon moaned, standing up and waiting for John.

"What's for dinner tonight Evie?" Scott asked as he entered the kitchen and raided the fridge.

"Spaghetti. Keep your mitts out of the fridge!" She said, getting up and hitting him round the head. "Al, why don't you go watch some TV." He jumped up and ran out of the kitchen, glad to finally be done with work. "Hey Scott, what did you say to Dad last night?"

"I said that he needed to start acting like a Dad. Why?" He replied, sitting at the table and looking at her.

"Because we haven't had a family meal, or even Dad cooking us breakfast, since mum died. I thought that things were finally changing, but they're not." She said, leaning on the counter and looking down.

"I know Evie. I thought that it would be different too." He got up and pulled her into a hug. "We're ok though. We have each other. Why don't you go out with some friends tomorrow? Take a break."

"And who would cook?" She asked immediately.

"I will." She looked at him with her eyebrows raised. "Ok, I'll order a take out." He said, making her laugh. "I'm serious. We can cope for one day Evie. Go out, have some fun. Or I will be forced to hand your guitar over to Little Red." He said before leaving the kitchen, leaving Evie staring after him with her mouth open and her eyes wide. He wouldn't dare! If Gordon got his hands on her guitar, there was no way it would survive! He was blackmailing her and he knew it. She started to cook, and decided that she wouldn't risk her precious guitar. She knew what she would do.

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The next day, Evie walked over to Richard in the library and stood in front of him. "Is that offer for dinner still available?" She asked, making him smile at her.

"So, you finally realised that you need a night out?" He asked as she sat down.

"More like Scott threatened to give my guitar to Gordon, who would destroy it before you can blink." She said, still angry about the idea.

"Fair enough. I will meet you at the gates after school and we will go out." He said with a smile.

"Deal. I will see you later." She said, getting up and walking out. He smiled and knew that he had picked the right person. Now, he just had to wait for the right chance.

**Here you go guys. Sorry it's a bit short. What do you think Richard is up to? You won't find out for a few chapters, but I want to hear your theories.**

**Please review and let me know what you think.**

**Emma**


	5. Chapter 5

The beginning.

Chapter 5

Scott and John were waiting at the gate for Virgil and Gordon to show up after school. They had watched Evie walk from her lesson across to the other side of the school, where they assumed she was meeting her friend. They had already discussed what they would be having for dinner and were going to order it as soon as they got home. Scott decided to ring their Dad while they waited for the 2 younger boys.

"Hi Jenny, its Scott." He said as Jeff's secretary answered the phone. "Is my Dad there?"

"Yeah, I'll put you through." Jenny replied. She had always been nice to the Tracy children and had even looked after them a few times when Jeff went out of town for meetings and such. He never asked her to, she just did it out of kindness. She knew how little time Jeff spent with his children, and knew that it had to change.

"Hi Scott. What can I do for you?" Jeff said as he answered the phone, sounding very professional.

"We were just wondering what time you're going to be home tonight. Evie is going out with a friend and we're ordering some pizzas. Do you want us to order you anything?" Scott asked, John leaning close to his ear to hear their father's reply.

"I'm sorry Scott, but I'm not going to be back until tomorrow. I have to go to LA to secure a deal and meet a potential client. You guys will be alright on your own tonight won't you?" Jeff replied, making John move away and try to hide his sadness.

"Yeah. We'll be fine. See you tomorrow." Scott replied, not even trying to hide the sadness and disappointment from his voice. "Evie was right. It was too good to be true." He mumbled as his brother's walked towards the 2.

"Hey! What time is Dad getting home tonight?" Gordon asked, still clinging to the hope that things were changing for the better.

"He's not." Scott replied, making Gordon's face fall and Virgil look down. "He's going to LA for the night. I'm sorry Gordo."

"'s ok Scotty. It's not your fault." The red-head replied, his head down and his shoulders slumped.

"Let's go." John said, moving towards the gate.

"Where's Evie?" Virgil asked, looking around for her.

"She's going out with a friend tonight. It was either that, or her guitar getting handed over to Little Red over there." Scott replied, a hint of a smile on his face.

"You blackmailed her?" John asked, shocked. He knew that she was going out, but he didn't know that Scott threatened her guitar to get her to go out.

"Yeah." He replied. John, Virgil and Gordon gave him a look with their eyebrows raised. "Don't give me that look! When was the last time she went out with friends?" When they didn't reply. He looked smug. "My point exactly."

"Ok, so she doesn't go out a lot. You didn't need to threaten her guitar." Virgil said, knowing how much he hated when his brother's threatened his piano. "Who is she going out with anyway?"

"I don't know." Scott replied with a shrug. "Probably Rachel." Rachel had been Evie's friend since pre-school. They knew that they hadn't been spending much time together lately, but whenever Evie wasn't with her brother's at school, she would be with Rachel.

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"You ready to go?" Richard asked as he walked up to Evie at the main school gate, the one on the other side of the campus to the gate her and her brother's use to get to Alan's school.

"Yeah." She replied, shifting her bag on her shoulder. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see when we get there." He replied, walking slightly ahead of her. She had to quicken her pace to walk in time with him, which was unusual because she thought that no one could walk faster than Scott. They walked for around 10 minutes before they stopped in front of one of the most popular restaurants near their school. "Here we are!" He said with a smile.

"Pizza?" She asked, looking at the sign.

"Yeah! Everyone loves pizza!" He said, holding the door open for her and sitting in a booth near the door.

"Can't argue with that." She laughed. They quickly ordered and waited for their food to arrive in a comfortable silence. "You know, we don't know much about each other." She said suddenly, taking a sip of her coke.

"I know that you are the only girl in your family, Virgil is your twin, you're 13, you love music and used to have your own horse. You live on a farm, but you don't have any animals, your mother died 5 years ago and your Dad is a workaholic." He replied with a smile.

"Ok, I don't know anything about you and you only know what you can find in magazines and online about me." She laughed.

"Well, I'm 16, my favourite colour is red, I love boxing, my Dad is a builder and my Mum is an accountant for your Dad." He said, making her eyes widen.

"Really? Your Mum works for my Dad?" She asked, completely shocked.

"Yeah. She says that he's nearly always in his office and no one knows what time he leaves at night." He said.

"He's hardly ever home. I'm not surprised that everyone leaves before him." She replied. Their food arrived and they started to eat quietly.

"So, what is there to know about you that isn't already splashed across magazines and the internet?" He asked, taking a bite of his pizza.

"Umm… My favourite colour is purple. I love cars and fixing things. I hate being the centre of attention. I am extremely overprotective of my brothers, especially my little brothers, I eat as much, if not more, than them and I feel extremely guilty about my mother's death." She said, looking at her empty plate as she spoke.

"Why do you feel guilty?" He asked, abandoning his last slice of pizza and looking at her.

"You know my Mum died in an avalanche, right?" He nodded, so she continued. "Well, we were in our holiday villa, my Mum, Virgil and I were the only ones there because I was ill and my Dad took the rest to get medicine. I wanted to go outside, but Mum wouldn't let me. So, while she and Virgil were in the kitchen, I went outside to play in the snow. But then there was an avalanche. My Mum ran out and grabbed me, before running back to the villa. She knew that we would never make it back in time, so she threw me to Virgil, who was stood at the door. We looked up to see her being swept away by snow. The initial impact is what killed her. But if I had just stayed put, then she would never have been outside. She would still be here and I wouldn't be having this conversation." She said, forcing the tears back like she had been doing for 5 years.

"It seems she really wanted you to live." He replied, not looking at her.

"I know. But I just feel so guilty. I keep thinking that maybe everyone would be better off without me." She pushed her plate away and looked out the window.

"You shouldn't think like that." He said, looking back at her. "It's getting late. I'll walk you home." He said, standing up and putting money on the table. She felt her phone buzz and saw that Jenny had texted her to say she would look after them for the night.

"That's ok. I'm going to head to my Dad's office. It's only a few minutes from here and his secretary is going to give me a lift." She said, getting up and walking out. "Thanks for tonight. I needed it."

"You're welcome. I'll see you around." He said, walking away from her. He couldn't believe how perfect this was! She was practically suicidal! It would make his job a lot easier.

Evie walked into her Dad's office to see Jenny locking the windows and shutting down the computer. "Hey Jenny. Where's Dad gone this time?" She asked, sitting on her father's chair behind the desk.

"Hi Evie. He's gone to LA for a meeting. He won't be home till late tomorrow." She replied, picking up her bag and looking at the young girl. "You know, when he forgot about that meeting yesterday, I thought that he was starting to make an effort being a father."

"So did we." She replied. "He actually cooked breakfast and ate with us the night before. I thought everything was going to change."

"I'm sorry that I called him away. But the client was already here and refused to leave without seeing your father." The 2 walked along the corridor and into the elevator, heading down to the car park.

"It's ok. But I thought that he would at least make an effort. We haven't seen him since." She said, leaning against the wall.

"He's starting to make an effort." Jenny replied, getting out of the lift and walking Evie towards her car. "Tell you what, I am going to do what I can to change his schedule and make sure that he actually leaves the building before me for once." She said as they got in the car.

"Thanks Jen." Evie replied with a smile. They sat in a comfortable silence until they reached the Tracy house. Their house was on a farm, even though they hadn't had any animals in years. They used to have 3 horses. One Evie's, one Lucy's and the one the boys shared. After Lucy's death, Jeff sold them, not telling his children until they had already gone. The house was a decent size. A big living room, a big kitchen, Jeff's home office, 3 bathrooms, 4 bedrooms and a smaller room that the kids used as their games room. Jenny would always sleep on the sofa bed in the games room when she looked after them, saying that it was comfortable and they didn't use it for anything else.

"Evening boys." She said, walking through the door and seeing them sat in the living room, watching a cartoon. "I hope that you aren't going to leave those pizza boxes there all night." She said in mock scolding.

"Of course not Jenny. We would never do that!" Scott said, smiling innocently.

"I'll believe that when I see it." She replied, sitting on the sofa.

"Hey Evie. How was the night out?" Virgil asked as his twin sat next to him.

"It was nice." She replied, looking at Alan asleep on the sofa. "Did none of you think of taking Sprout to bed?" She asked.

"Well… We tried…" John started, looking at the young boy that was using his legs as a pillow.

"But he started screaming and kicking." Gordon finished with a laugh.

"Alright kids, it's getting late. Take your brother to bed and get ready yourselves. Since tomorrow is a Saturday, I'll take you to the water park." Jenny said, making Gordon smile. "But I will only take you if you go to bed now and go to sleep." She said with a pointed look at the red-head, who immediately jumped up and ran up the stairs to his room.

"Well, you sure know how to control Little Red." Scott commented, picking up Alan, who didn't scream this time, only mumbled something they couldn't hear and twitching his leg.

"I've had a lot of practice." She replied. "Now bed. Go on." They all left, knowing that Jenny would make them go one way or another.

Evie lay in bed thinking about what she told Richard. She hadn't even told her brothers about that, except Virgil. She felt she could trust Richard, but she didn't know why. And she couldn't shake that feeling of unease when he was around. She didn't know what to do about it, but she knew she would figure it out eventually.

**Woo! Another chapter done and dusted. Sorry if it's not escalating quickly enough for you, but I need to add in these details so you can see the changes and relevance later on. **

**You'll find out what Richard is up to next chapter, I promise.**

**Please review and let me know what you think.**

**Emma**


	6. Chapter 6

The beginning

Chapter 6

Throughout the next week, Jeff was home less than before and hardly even spoke to his children. Grandma Tracy had come over for a few days, and did all the chores that the children usually did, including cooking. Since she wasn't needed to cook and clean, Evie was spending a lot of her time out of the house with Richard, not that her brothers knew. As far as they knew, she was spending time with Rachel, who even covered for her with her brothers. Evie and Richard had been going out for a week when it first started. She had gone to his house for the day when his parents were out of town on a much needed holiday.

"So, what do you want to do?" She asked, standing in his kitchen as he pulled some popcorn out of the microwave.

"Let's watch some TV." He replied, walking through to the living room. He turned the TV on and turned to see Evie knock over the glass of water he 'accidentally' left in the middle of the room.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry." She said, quickly picking it up and grabbing the towel that was on the table.

"You bitch." He said, walking towards her. She jumped back at the harsh sound of his voice. "You did that on purpose." He spat, stepping even closer to her, his eyes cold and hard.

"No! It was an accident!" She gasped, walking back until her back hit the wall. He punched her stomach, making her double over and gasp in pain.

"You deserve this." He spat, punching her again and pushing her to the floor. "You killed your own mother!" He kicked her roughly on her back, making her arch away from the blow. He kept punching, kicking and slapping her for what felt like hours, but was only 10 minutes, before stepping back and throwing a towel at her. "Clean up your mess." He spat, walking out of the room, leaving her crying on the floor. He made sure to only hit her in places that her clothes covered so no one saw anything.

She slowly got up, wincing in pain, and started to clean up the water she spilt. She knew that she should run, tell someone and get him arrested. But something he said made her stay. _'You deserve this. You killed your own mother!'_ The words rang through her head. She deserved to be beaten. This was her punishment for getting her mother killed. A few minutes later, Richard walked back into the room.

"Good, you cleaned." He said, his voice hard. He grabbed her arm roughly and pulled her sharply toward him, making her slam into his chest. "You aren't going to tell anyone about this, are you?" He asked, making her shake her head. He slammed her into the wall. "Good. Because I would hate for you little brother's to pay for your big mouth." She stared at him wide eyed. He was threatening her with her brothers! "And I will know if you tell anyone."

A few hours later, Evie finally left his house. The time had been spent doing a mixture of watching TV and Evie receiving more blows. Just around the corner from her house, she adjusted her clothes to make sure all of the marks and bruises were covered. She stepped in the house and was immediately attacked by Alan jumping on her and hanging onto her shoulders. She wrapped her arms around him to stop him from falling and tried to hide the pain she felt.

"Hi Evie! Where have you been? Did you bring me anything? Scott took me to the park! And I watched TV all afternoon! Gordon hid John's science book and he still can't find it!" The 6 year old said very fast, barley stopping to take a breath.

"Woah! Slow down Sprout. Why don't you go do some colouring for a while?" She suggested. He jumped down and ran out of the room. Evie quickly went upstairs to her room, shutting the door the second she was in and locking it. She was glad that Virgil was at his piano lesson so he wouldn't see. She took her top off and stood in front of the mirror they had in their room. Her whole torso and back was covered in black and blue bruises. There were a few cuts on her back from where she collided with something sharp, but they weren't deep and stopped bleeding. She knew that she was going to have to be very careful from now on to make sure that her brothers didn't notice anything.

An hour later, she was cooking dinner when Virgil walked in from his piano lesson. "Hey Evie. How was your day with Rachel?" He asked, grabbing a biscuit from the barrel.

"It was good." She said quickly. "How was piano?"

"Great! My teacher says that I can take my Grade 5 exam soon!" He said, excitement rolling off him. **(A/N. I'm going off the British music exam system here. Don't know if it's different anywhere else.)**

"That's great." She replied as Alan ran into the kitchen.

"Scotty wants to know when dinner is." He said, jumping at Evie and hitting her leg to get her attention. Virgil saw the slight wince when he hit her leg, but assumed he hit her too hard.

"Let him know it'll be 5 minutes." She said, watching the youngest Tracy run out of the room. "Don't run Alan!" She yelled after him. She stirred the mince in the pan and Virgil noticed something on her arm.

"What's that on your arm?" He asked, grabbing her left arm before she could look. He looked at the bruise on her bicep and looked back up at her. "Where did this come from?" He asked, touching it and noticing the way she winced.

"I walked into a shelf at Rachel's. Must have been from then." She said, pulling her arm away and getting the taco shells out of the cupboard. Virgil seemed to accept the answer and started to set the table for her.

After they all ate their tacos and washed the pots, she went upstairs and inspected the bruise. It must have been from when she hit the table when Richard pushed her to the floor. She looking in her wardrobe and realised that she only had one top that would cover the bruise, but that would expose some of the bruises on her chest and belly since it was a cropped top. She made a mental note to go shopping as she realised her pyjamas consisted of shorts and a tank top. She needed clothes that would cover all of the bruises.

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The next day, Evie made a quick shopping trip and came home with 4 bags full of clothes. She hung up all the long sleeved shirts, jumpers and jeans and put the thick tights in the draw. She knew it would raise suspicion, but it was safer than letting her brothers see the bruises. At least then Alan and Gordon wouldn't get hurt.

"Hey Evie. What's with the clothes?" Scott asked, standing in the doorway of the room.

"I was growing out of my old clothes." She replied, throwing the bags in the corner of the room.

"Really? They looked fine when you wore them." He replied, raising an eyebrow.

"Would you rather I wait until they ripped and let everyone see me in my underwear?" She asked, crossing her arms and smirking when he squirmed.

"Good point." He replied, glad that she pointed that out. "So, what's the plan for tonight?"

"Order Chinese and get Alan to bed early." She said. "I'm going to go to the barn for a bit."

"Why? It's not like anything lives there." He replied, watching her pick up her guitar.

"I know. But it's quiet." She walked right past him and straight to the barn. This was where they used to keep their horses, but was now empty except for a lot of hay in the hay loft. She climbed the ladder and sat on a bale of hay and pulled her guitar out, strumming to herself. She tried to find the right song for how she was feeling right now, but nothing seemed right. Eventually, she just gave up and went back to the house to order the food for her brothers.

She spent the rest of the night back in the barn, crying to herself. She knew that what Richard was doing was wrong, but he had threatened her brothers, and she felt that she deserved it. She knew what would happen if she told her brothers. Scott, John and Virgil would not let her out of the house again, and would probably kill Richard if they saw him. Gordon would pull a potentially harmful prank against Richard and Alan would get upset that someone was hurting his sister. She knew that it wasn't a possibility for them to find out and cried even more until she fell asleep in the hay loft.

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In the morning, Scott woke to his alarm and quickly went to wake his brothers. He got John, Gordon and Alan up with little effort, but Virgil was another story. After getting punched in the arm, he dragged his younger brother downstairs to get breakfast, only to see someone missing. "Where's Evie?" He asked, making his brother's attention snap to him.

"We thought you were getting her up." John said, holding the milk he was about to our into Alan's cereal.

"She wasn't upstairs. I thought she was already down here." He replied. He looked at Virgil. "Did you hear her go to bed last night?"

"No. I just assumed she came up after I fell asleep." He replied, looking worried. They all jumped up and looked around the house while Alan ran outside, seeing the barn door open. He climbed into the hay loft and saw his big sister asleep on one of the hay bales. He ran back to the house and hit Scott's leg.

"Scotty! Evie is in the barn!" He said, making Scott freeze.

"What? What is she doing?" He asked as the rest of the boys came into the room.

"Sleeping." The young Tracy replied. Scott ran out of the door, the others close behind him, and climbed quickly into the hay loft.

"Evie! Wake up!" He said, shaking her shoulder.

"Huh? Wha? Scott?" She mumbled, opening her eyes and looking up at him. "What time is it?"

"Half 7. Have you been up here all night?" He asked, helping her up.

"Umm… I think." She replied, rubbing her eyes.

"Come on. Let's get ready for school." He said. They quickly climbed down the ladder and went back to the house with their brothers. Virgil looked at her from his bed and realised that she had been crying.

"You ok Belle?" He said, making her look at him over her shoulder.

"Fine. Why?" She asked, grabbing clothes she knew would hide her bruises.

"No reason." He said. She left the room to get changed in the bathroom and Virgil stared after her. He knew she was lying, but he couldn't figure out why. He knew that he would get to the bottom of it, no matter what.

**Here you go guys! So now you know what Richard was up to. I am not going to go into description of what he does, just give a quick statement and then detail the after effects. **

**Please review and let me know what you think.**

**Emma**


	7. Chapter 7

The beginning

Chapter 7

A month had passed since that first beating, and every day, Evie received another for one reason or another. That day, it had been because she was a minute late to meet him. She was now walking around with a sprained wrist and a couple of cracked ribs. She refused to see a doctor, since she had been promised a worse beating if she saw anyone about her injuries. What she hadn't noticed though, was that 4 of her brothers had realised something was wrong and had started noticing differences in her behaviour.

"Something's not right." Scott said, pacing the living room. Evie was once again out and the 4 older Tracy boys were trying to figure out what was wrong with their sister. "Evie hates to wear long sleeves, but that is all she has been wearing for a month!"

"She's been wearing flats all the time. She never usually wears them outside of school." John said, running a hand through his hair.

"What about her guitar? She loves that thing, but hasn't touched it in a month!" Gordon said, putting his elbows on his legs and leaning forward.

"She never spends time with us anymore. She is either out, or in the barn." Virgil said. He suddenly sat up straight. "Rachel! She says that she is with Rachel all the time. Maybe she knows something." He grabbed the phone and rang the number.

"Hello?" Rachel answered as he put the phone on loud speaker.

"Hi Rachel. It's Virgil. Is Evie there?" He asked, the 4 leaning closer to the phone to hear the response.

"Umm… She's in the bathroom." She said. The 4 could hear the nervousness in her voice.

"Rachel, please. Don't lie. We know that something is wrong, but we just want to know what." Scott said. They heard her sigh.

"Ok. She made me promise to cover for her if you guys rang. I don't know what is going on, but whenever we are at school, she never talks and she spends all her time in the library." She said, making the boys' heart sink.

"Ok. Is there anything that you can tell us?" John asked, desperation clear in his voice.

"There is something." She said, making the boys lean in again. "I saw her in the toilets at school yesterday, and her shirt rode up at the back. I saw a huge bruise. It looked new. When I asked, she said that she got hit in the back with the ball during PE, but she hasn't done PE in a month. And it was way too big to be from a ball." The boys shared a look.

"What did it look like?" Gordon asked.

"I don't know. But it looked like multiple bruises that merged into one." She replied. "I'm sorry, but that's all I know."

"Thanks Rachel. That was more than we knew anyway." Scott said, hanging up the phone. They all leaned back and heard the door open. They looked up to see Evie walk into the room. "Hey Belle. How was your day?" He asked.

"It was good. Rachel and I went to the cinema." She said, dumping her bag. "I'm going to the barn." She walked out of the back door faster than normal and they all heard the shaking of her voice.

"She lied. She's been lying to us this whole time." John said in disbelief. "What are we going to do?"

"She'll probably fall asleep in the barn again. When she does, I'm going to see what Rachel was on about." Scott said, determination clear in his voice.

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Evie hadn't been out of the barn all night, and once Alan had gone to bed, the 4 older boys went out to the barn to see what was going on. They slowly climbed into the hay loft, being careful not to make a lot of noise. They saw Evie asleep on a hay bale like she had been for the past month, and moved closer. Scott motioned for the others to stay where they were so they didn't crowd her. He lifted the back of her shirt slowly, glad she was lying on her side, and his eyes went wide in horror. Her back was covered in a variety of old and new bruises, only small patches of skin un-marked. He realised that it was the same for her stomach.

"Oh my god." He breathed. He looked back at his brothers who were close enough to see the damage. There was only one thing that could cause this type of damage, and Scott knew exactly what it was. "Someone's been beating her."

"Why would someone do that? How could someone be so cruel?" Gordon asked, his eyes watering.

"I don't know Gordo. I don't know." John said as Scott pulled a blanket over her sister. They all climbed back down the ladder, leaving Evie since they knew they wouldn't be able to get her down.

"She's been crying. I saw the tear tracks." Scott said as they stood outside the barn. "Someone is doing this to her, and she is too scared to say anything."

"How do you know she's scared?" Gordon asked.

"She only cries when she's scared." John said.

"No. She cries when she's scared for other people." Virgil said. "My guess is that whoever is doing this threatened one or all of us. That threat is enough to keep her silent and make her cry."

"So what do we do?" John asked, looking at Scott, whose face was full of determination.

"We follow her and find the bastard that is doing this." He said.

"Won't she notice that we're suddenly following her around though?" Virgil asked, knowing how angry she would be if she caught them.

"I don't care if she notices. I am not letting her out of my sight until I get to the bottom of this." Scott replied, his back straight and stiff.

"But you have that interview for the air force." John pointed out.

"My sister is more important than a stupid interview." He replied, his eyes hard.

"An interview that could determine your whole life." John shot back. "In case you didn't notice, there are 4 of us to keep an eye on her. You go to your interview and we'll watch her. You know what Dad will do if he finds out you ditched the interview he set up for you."

"Ok. Starting tomorrow, She doesn't go anywhere without one of us knowing about it. Got it?" Scott asked.

"Got it." They confirmed. They all went to bed, but none could sleep. Virgil tossed and turned all night. He knew that they wanted to know what was going on, needed to know. But he wasn't sure he wanted to find out. And he certainly didn't want Evie to find out she was being followed.

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Evie knew what they were doing. She knew that her brothers were following her since Gordon walked into the library with her before school that morning. Gordon never goes into the library, and there he was 'reading' a science book before school had even started. What worried her, was that if they were following her, then they knew something was up. It meant that Richard wouldn't be able to do anything during the day, but it also meant that he would suspect that she told them.

"Will you guys stop it?" She snapped during lunch as they followed her to the tree she usually ate under before going to the library. "You have been following me all day, and don't pretend that you weren't."

"Evie, we're just worried. You haven't been yourself lately." John said, acting calm and collected, when he was actually extremely tense and worried.

"And you think following me round all the time is going to fix that? People change. Deal with it." She snapped, putting her hands on her hips.

"We're just trying to protect you." Scott said.

"Well don't." She said. "I am not a china doll that can break easily."

"Evie…" Virgil started.

"No Virgil. Not everything needs fixing. Not everything can be fixed. Now back off and leave me alone." She spun on her heel and walked out of sight. Scott looked back at Virgil, who looked heart broken.

"Virge?" He asked, stepping towards his younger brother. "What's wrong?"

"That's the first time she's ever snapped at me." He mumbled. "She hates me."

"She doesn't hate you! She's just angry. She didn't mean it Virge, I swear." He said, putting his hand on the younger boys shoulder.

Evie walked all the way to the bike shed at the edge of the school and stepped through the hedge, into the little circle of concrete hidden behind the overgrown bushes and the back of the bike shed. She sat on the floor and sighed. She hadn't meant to snap at them, especially not Virgil, but all she could think of was what might have happened if they found out.

Richard suddenly pushed his way through the branches and stormed over to her, grabbing her by the hair and pulling her to her feet before slamming her into the bike shed. "What did you say to them?" He hissed at her, his voice full of anger and hatred.

"Nothing!" She exclaimed, trying not to raise her voice. He didn't like it when she shouted at him.

"Really? Because they have been following you around all day and seem to know something!" He snapped, slamming her head into the hard wood of the bike shed.

"I swear! I didn't say anything!" She whimpered, pain rippling through her skull.

"I don't believe you!" He hissed throwing her to the floor and picking up a metal pole that lay on the floor. "I told you what would happen if you told them." He said. Her eyes widened in horror, before he bought the pole down on her bruised and battered body over and over again. She had a hard time not making a sound since she knew it would only get worse if she did.

Finally, when she could hardly keep her eyes open, he bent down to her level on the floor. "If this comes back to me, you will never be safe." He spat before leaving. She could hardly see out of her swollen left eye and was having a hard time staying conscious. She could hear a noise near her, but couldn't focus properly. She heard someone shout her name before everything went black.

**Don't kill me! I had to add the cliff-hanger to add suspence.**

**Please review and let me know what you think.**

**Emma**


	8. Chapter 8

The beginning

Chapter 8

"Evie? Where are you?" Virgil shouted out as they passed the bike shed. "I swear she ran down here." He mumbled. The 4 boys had found Evie's tutor and told her everything they knew. When she didn't turn up for her next lesson, her tutor, Mrs Holmes, had asked them to take her to Evie, and they had walked to where they saw her run off to.

"Maybe she came out?" Gordon suggested.

"If I find out that you 4 are lying about this-" Mrs Holmes started.

"We're not lying! We know what we saw!" Virgil protested.

"Hey, what's that?" John asked, pointing at something under the hedge. Him and Scott knelt down next to it and looked at each other. "It's blood." He said, looking back at his brother's and teacher. Scott pushed the hedge away a little and froze at what he saw.

"EVIE!" He yelled, running behind the bush and kneeling next to his sister. His brothers and Mrs Holmes ran in after him and stopped dead at what they saw. Evie was lying unconscious on the floor in a puddle of her own blood. Her arm was bent at a strange angle and her leg seemed to have swollen to twice the size it was before. Her left eye was red and swollen, her lip split and her cheek red. Mrs Holmes ran to her and knelt on the other side that Scott was on.

"Her breathing's shallow. Gordon, go get the head. Now!" She snapped, making Gordon run out of the bush and straight towards the head teacher's office. "Virgil, call an ambulance. Tell them to be as quick as they can." Virgil pulled his phone out and started to dial.

John walked to the back of the bike shed and bent down to look at the bloody, metal pole that had been abandoned there. "John!" He looked behind him at Mrs Holmes. "Call the police. They need to know about this." He nodded and pulled his own phone out.

By the time he hung up, Gordon was running back through the hedge with the head teacher, Mr Wright, right behind him. "Oh my." He said, kneeling next to Evie. "What happened?"

"Evie's been acting strangely for a while. We were following her around today, but she realised and snapped at us. We found Mrs Holmes and told her that we thought someone was beating Evie. Then we found her like this." Scott said, holding his hoodie to his sister's head to try and stop the bleeding.

"The police and ambulance are on their way." Mrs Holmes said.

"Right. Go wait at the main gate for them and tell the other staff to get everyone into the café. No one is to leave this school until we have gotten to the bottom of this." Mr Wright said. Mrs Holmes jumped up and ran out of the hedge to carry out his orders. "Listen to me boys, she is going to be fine. The second the police and ambulance get here, they'll take you to the hospital with her and call your Dad. For now, I need you all to be strong for your sister, ok?" The 4 scared boys nodded, but they didn't try to hide their tears.

A few minutes later, 2 paramedics ran through the hedge behind Mrs Holmes, followed by 2 police officers. The paramedics immediately started to work of Evie, after Mr Wright had dragged Scott out of the way, and the police was asking them what happened. They started to look around the circle and radioed in for more officers and a detective. The paramedics quickly had Evie on a stretcher and started walking back to the ambulance with her.

"What's her name?" One asked as they went to the back car park, so they could avoid the café.

"Evelyn Tracy. Her father is Jeff Tracy." Mr Wright said.

"Does she have any medical conditions?" The other asked as they loaded her onto the ambulance.

"No. None." Scott replied.

"I need you to come in the ambulance with her." One said to Mr Wright as the other ran around to the front to drive. He nodded and climbed in. One of the officer's took the boys to the hospital while the other stayed at the school to start looking into what happened and rang their father.

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Jeff was sat in his office, talking to a new client that sat in front of his desk, when his intercom came to life.

"Mr Tracy. I'm sorry to interrupt, but there is an important call for you on line 1. It is about Evelyn." Jenny said, sounding apologetic.

"Ok. Thanks Jenny." Jeff replied, picking up the phone. "I'm sorry." He apologised to his client, who nodded in understanding. "Jeff Tracy." He said, putting the phone to his ear.

"Mr Tracy. This is Officer Williams from the police department. I have some news about your daughter, Evelyn Tracy." The officer said.

"What is it? Is she ok?" He asked immediately.

"I am sorry sir, but she was found beaten and unconscious at her school by her brothers. They are all on their way to the hospital now. I am sorry Mr Tracy, but she's in a bad way." Jeff froze in his seat, not knowing how to process the information, before his father's instinct kicked in.

"I'm on my way." He said, jumping up and grabbing his coat. "I have to go." He quickly said to his client before running out of the office and down the corridor. Jenny looked at him with sympathetic eyes as she had to ask the officer to tell her what had happened, since Jeff had asked not to be disturbed unless it was important.

Jeff ran to the elevator, making his employees look at him in shock. They couldn't figure out what caused the scared look on his face and made him run as fast as he was. He quickly got in the lift and pressed the button for the office's car park. He tapped his foot and ran a hand through his hair, willing the lift to go faster. When the doors finally opened, he ran out and sprinted to his car, jumping in and driving out as fast as he could. He managed to avoid red lights and speed cameras on his way to the hospital, but even they wouldn't have stopped him from getting to his daughter.

When he pulled into the hospital's car park, he quickly parked and ran through the entrance, only to see 4 of his son's sat with a police officer. Virgil looked up when the doors opened and saw his Dad run through, his worry clear on his face.

"DAD!" He yelled, running over to him and burying his face in his chest. The 3 other boys ran over and hugged their Dad too, tears flowing down their faces.

"Mr Tracy? I'm Officer Angela Brown. I brought your sons here." The Officer said, shaking Jeff's hand.

"Where's Evelyn?" He asked immediately.

"She's in surgery. No one has said anything yet. There is a private waiting room around the corner for you and your sons to use." She said. Jeff untangled himself from his sons and followed the Officer to the waiting room. "I hope you don't mind if I wait with you? As of yet, we don't know what the cause or motivation around this is, but it is best to keep you and your sons safe."

"Where is Alan? Has anyone been to collect him?" Jeff asked, his worry increasing.

"My partner is on his way to get him now." She said. Jeff nodded and fell into one of the sofas in the room, his head falling into his hands. "I'm sorry to ask you this, but do you know why anyone would want to hurt your daughter?"

"No. I haven't really seen much of any of my children lately. Virgil is Evelyn's twin. He will know everything about what is going on with her." He replied, realising how little he knew about his only daughter.

"I have already asked your sons what happened. They said that Evelyn hasn't been acting like herself for around a month now, and that one of her friends, Rachel Thompson, told them that she saw a bruise on her back that looked like multiple bruises merged into one. Do you know anything about this?" She asked, sitting next to him.

"No. I mean, I've carried her to her bed from the barn when she fell asleep in there a few times, and I saw a bruise or 2 when her clothes moved, but she said that she got them from PE or from banging into something." He replied, looking up at his sons, who were all sitting together on one of the sofas.

"Do you know if she had a boyfriend?" Angela asked, looking at the Tracy patriarch.

"I don't know. Like I said, I haven't seen much of them lately." He replied. The door opened then and Alan ran into the room, jumping on his Dad.

"Dad! The man said Evie's hurt. Where is she? Is she ok?" The 6 year old asked quickly, not stopping to breath. Jeff saw the tears welling in his eyes and hugged him to his chest.

"Calm down Alan. She is hurt, but I don't know how badly. She is with the doctors so they can see what is wrong with her." He replied, kissing his head.

"Mr Tracy? I'm Officer Luke Williams. We spoke on the phone." The Officer that brought Alan into the room said, holding his hand out to Jeff.

"Yes. Thank you for getting my son." Jeff said, shaking his hand.

Alan ran off to his brothers and Jeff sat and waited for someone to tell him what was happening while Angela and Luke stood by the window, talking in low voices. An hour later, Jeff looked at his sons to see them all asleep. Alan was lying on Scott, his head resting on his brother's shoulder. Scott had his head on John's shoulder, with Gordon on John's other shoulder and Virgil resting his head on John's lap. Jeff sighed and looked at his feet, realising he missed the chance to raise his youngest son and watch his children grow and mature.

"Mr Tracy?" Angela asked, sitting next to him. He gave her a small smile as he raised his head.

"Please, call me Jeff." He replied.

"Is there anyone you want me to call?" She asked, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"No. I'll give my mother a call when I know what is going on. I don't want her to worry." He said. "My late wife's family passed a few years ago." He explained, knowing that she wanted to know why he wasn't going to call them.

"I'm sorry." She said.

"Don't be. It's not your fault." A doctor walked through the door, making Jeff shoot up.

"Mr Tracy?" He asked.

"Yes. Where's Evelyn? Is she ok?" He asked quickly. Angela and Luke stepped towards them, needing to know the information for their investigation.

"Your daughter is in recovery now. It was a long and tough surgery, but she made it. We lost her pulse once, but we got it back quickly." He explained, knowing that the father of 6 would be worried. "She suffered from many minor contusions and will be very sore when she wakes up, but she won't be able to walk for a few days. She dislocated a kneecap and sprained an ankle. One of her arms are broken, but we managed to set it quickly. She has several cracked and broken ribs, one punctured her lung and caused her to stop breathing. She also had some internal bleeding along with a cut on her head. We managed to stop the bleeding and stitched up the worst of the cuts. She is still unconscious, but you can go see her if you wish."

"Please." He replied immediately. "Can you look after them please?" He asked Luke, who nodded. Angela followed the 2 men to Evelyn's room, but stayed outside, saying she was on security detail.

Jeff sat in the chair next to his daughter, tears flowing down his face. Her broken arm was in a purple cast, something she would like, and she had a lot of bandages on her arms and legs. She had a tube down her throat helping her to breath, and she was hooked up to more machines than he cared to notice. He took her hand in his and kissed it, looking at her face, willing her eyes to open.

"Oh Evelyn. What happened to you?" He whispered. He sat with her hand tightly in his before he decided to call his mother. He asked Angela to wake the boys up and take them to see their sister while he made the call, not wanting to leave Evelyn alone.

**Here you go guys. I don't know how long I am going to make it until Evie wakes up, but you'll know when I do.**

**Please review and let me know what you think. **

**Emma**


	9. Chapter 9

The beginning.

Chapter 9

"Why is Evie sleeping?" Alan asked again. He was sat in Jeff's lap as Scott, John and Gordon sat on the sofa by the window and Virgil sat on the other side of Evie.

"Because she is hurt, and sleeping is helping her get better." Jeff said, again. Clearly the young boy didn't like that answer, but it would keep him quiet for a while. "What are you boys doing?" He asked, looking at the 3 on the sofa, looking at the laptop on John's lap.

"John's hacking into the school's cameras!" Gordon said quickly before putting his hand over his mouth.

"Gordon!" Scott and John snapped. They knew he wouldn't keep quiet.

"John." Jeff said sternly, looking at the second eldest.

"What? I want to see who did this to my little sister, and if this is the only way I can do it, then I will." He said, his face showing his determination.

"I was going to ask what you found." Jeff replied with a small smile. He knew that his son's ability to hack into any computer server was either going to come in handy, or get him in trouble in later life. But right now, he didn't care.

"Nothing. There are no cameras in that part of the school." He said, feeling frustrated and angry. "Why would someone do this?"

"I don't know. But I intend to find out." Jeff said, determination filling his voice. Angela walked in with some food for them all then.

"Thought you would be hungry." She said, putting the food on the table.

"This lot are always hungry." Jeff said, trying to be humorous, but it just sounded dead. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. You should probably get out of here for a bit. Go for a walk. Get some fresh air." She said, looking at their tired appearance.

"We have the window open." Gordon said cheekily.

"That's not what I meant and you know it." She said, putting her hands on her hips. "You guys have been in here for 7 hours now. Go and do something. Or at least go home and get changed."

"I am not leaving her." Virgil said, speaking for the first time since he stepped into the room.

"You guys are all stubborn, aren't you?" She said, looking around at all of them.

"Runs in the family." Scott replied, leaning back into the sofa.

"Ok. I'll compromise. Go to the toilet down the hall." She said, pointing out of the door.

"Good enough." Gordon said. "I'm bursting!" He ran out of the room quicker than Jeff had ever seen him run.

"Daddy?" Alan asked, looking back at Jeff. "When is Evie going to wake up?"

"When she's ready. Why don't you go play with Scott for a bit?" He suggested. Alan looked at him for a moment, obviously not happy with the change of subject, but jumped off his knee and walked to Scott anyway.

"Jeff, I wanted to talk to you for a second." Angela said motioning out of the door. He got up and followed her out and into the waiting room they had sat in earlier. "Look, I know you don't want to think about it, but is there any possibility that one of your enemy's did this to get at you?"

"No! There is no way that anyone other than students and staff could get into that school and there is no way that Evelyn could have left without someone knowing." He said.

"Ok. It's just that we have looked at everyone who was in the school at the time and none of them fit the profile we have put together. Until Evelyn wakes up, there is no way we can find out who did this." She replied, looking very sorry. "Jeff, I know you don't want to, but I want you to go to the hotel across the street for the night. Take your sons with you. You all need a good night's sleep."

"No. I am not going to leave Evelyn alone." He replied quickly, getting up and pacing.

"She won't be alone. I'll stay with her, and there are so many doctors and nurses going in and out that she'll never be left alone." She said, grabbing his arm to stop him pacing. "You have to get some rest. It isn't going to do you any good. What is Evelyn going to think when she wakes to find you all dead on your feet? Or in a hospital bed yourself? Some nurses have been talking about sedating you so that you actually sleep before you pass out from exhaustion."

"Virgil is never going to agree to it." He said after a moment, knowing he wouldn't win the argument.

"Then I'll look after him or I can drag him to the hotel myself." She replied with a smile. "Come on. You have already been here for 7 hours and you look exhausted." She tugged him out of the room and back to Evelyn's room. A few minutes later, Jeff, John, Gordon and Alan were heading towards the hotel, while Scott and Virgil refused to leave. Angela made a compromise that when their father and brothers returned in the morning, they would go over to the hotel and sleep.

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After a night of tossing and turning, Jeff got his sons up and dressed before heading back to the hotel. He wanted to get back to his daughter and let Scott and Virgil get some sleep. He helped Alan get his shoes on and picked the still half asleep 6 year old up, walking to the elevator. The moment they walked out of the lobby, they saw the crowd of paparazzi surrounding the hospital. He held Alan tighter to him and told John and Gordon to stay close before walking out of the hospital. The second they saw him, the paparazzi ran over to him, only to be held back by the police.

"Mr Tracy! How is your daughter? What is wrong with her? Is it true she is close to death?" Someone shouted at him, making him stop dead where he was. He looked at the man to see cameras and Dictaphones pointed at his face.

"My daughter is not close to death!" He said to the cameras. Alan buried his face in his neck and John and Gordon both held onto one of his trouser legs. "She was injured at school and is unconscious. The doctors are confident that she is going to wake up as soon as she is ready to. Now I would appreciate it if you would leave me and my family alone while we help Evelyn to recover and if you could refrain from crowding around the hospital in case you prevent an ambulance or patient from entering and let the staff get on with their work." He walked to the hospital quickly with his sons, watching as the paparazzi dispersed and stayed away from the entrances and car park. They went straight up to Evelyn's room and saw Angela sat with Virgil and Scott, watching the news with the reporter stood outside of the hospital.

"This is ridiculous. The main story today is that your daughter is in hospital, and they barely showed coverage of the earthquake in China. Nice speech by the way." She said, looking up at him at the end of the story.

"How bad was the earthquake?" He asked, letting Alan down and sitting next to her.

"It was an 8 on the richter scale." She said, turning the TV off. "The TVs been on for an hour and they only showed 10 minutes of it. Everything else was about Evelyn."

"What's the death toll?" He asked, looking at his daughter, seeing no change except that she had been taken off the ventilator.

"They don't know yet. It happened 3 hours ago and since then, they have found around 100 people in the rubble, 20 of them are in a critical condition. They say that there isn't much more chance for survivors now with how long it is taking to clear the rubble." She said, standing up and adjusting her belt with her gun and handcuffs.

"If only there was someone out there with equipment that could speed it up. There would be so many more survivors and even then, people still trapped would have a better chance at survival." He said.

"If someone like that existed, I would sign up." She said, trying to hide a yawn as she looked out the window at the crowd below. "Well, they seem to be leaving. Most of them anyway."

"What time were you supposed to clock off duty?" He asked, noticing the way she flexed her neck.

"10 last night." She replied. She saw the look he gave her. "Don't give me that look! If we get a case, like this, than we clock off only when the captain says. And anyway, I said that I would stay with Evelyn. And I don't break my word." She smiled. Jeff smiled back at her before looking at Scott and Virgil.

"Did they sleep at all?" He asked, realising that they didn't look tired in the slightest.

"Yeah. They fell asleep not long after you left. Slept the whole night." She replied. "Virgil isn't a morning person is he? It took Scott and I 10 minutes to get him up so he could eat something."

"That doesn't surprise me. Evelyn is the same." He replied. She smiled at him before grabbing her phone out of her pocket and looking at the missed calls from her husband.

"I have to make some calls." She said, walking out of the room. Jeff looked back at his only daughter and sighed, grabbing her hand. Scott looked at his Dad and walked over to him.

"Dad?" He said, making Jeff turn to face his eldest son. "I'm sorry for what I said to you. I didn't mean it."

"No. You meant every word of what you said. And you were right." Jeff replied, giving him a small smile. "I haven't exactly been the best dad for the past few years. But I want you to know that no matter what I did, I did it for all of you. I worked so hard so that we had enough money for all of you to get what you want."

Scott gave him a cheeky grin. "Dad, you worked hard because it was the only way you could think of to bury your grief. You're a billionaire! You could quit right now and never have to work again!" He laughed, making Jeff smile. "I am sorry Dad. I just wanted you to know how much we need you."

"I know son. And from now on everything is going to be different." Jeff swore. He made a promise to himself that he would never neglect his children like he did before. Before he could blink, an alarm went off and there were suddenly doctors and nurses running into the room. Jeff moved out of the way, grabbing Alan and feeling fear wash over him. "What's going on?" He asked anyone who would listen. There were things being shouted across the room but he couldn't hear what was being said. The doctor that first talked to him walked over as people started to unhook Evie from machines.

"Mr Tracy. I'm sorry, but you're daughter's blood pressure is dropping and she's going into cardiac arrest. We believe that there is internal bleeding that we missed. We're taking her back into surgery." He said as they wheeled Evie out of the room.

"What?" He asked, not knowing how to process it.

"I'm going to have to ask you to go back to the private waiting room while she is in surgery. I will come talk to you after." He said, walking out of the room as Angela walked back in. She led Jeff and the boy's to the waiting room and sat them down, trying to comfort the boys. Jeff just stared at the wall, unaware of the tears rolling down his face. He felt numb, like he did when his wife died 5 years ago. He felt a tug on his trouser leg and looked down to see Alan staring up at him, his cheeks wet with the tears he shed. He picked his son up and settled him on his lap, holding him close.

"Is Evie going to see Mum?" Alan asked, making Jeff freeze. He had been so caught up in the horror of what happened, he never even considered that his only daughter might die.

"No. Your sister is just trying to keep us on our toes. You know how much she likes to pull tricks." He said, trying not to let his own worries concern the boy.

Alan nodded his head slowly before looking up at his Dad. "When can we see her?" He asked.

"When the doctor's finish making her feel better. She got hurt badly, she needs some help to heal." He replied, kissing his son on his head and closing his eyes.

**Please don't hurt me! I just thought that it would be too easy for her to heal and get better with no more complications. **

**Please review and let me know what you think.**

**Emma**


	10. Chapter 10

The beginning

Chapter 10

Jeff stood up when the doctor walked into the room, careful to keep a hold on Alan who had fallen asleep against him an hour ago. "How is she?" He asked, keeping his voice down.

The doctor took note of the sleeping boy, and the other 4 boys still asleep and dropped his voice. "She suffered a cardiac arrest. We managed to get her pulse back and find the cause of the drop in blood pressure. It seems that there was some internal bleeding we missed the first time because it was a slow bleed and we thought it would heal itself without our help. As time progressed, the bleed got worse until this happened and we had to operate to stop the bleeding. We managed to stop it and get her back to her room. There is no need for a ventilator this time, but she is going to be checked on more often now to make sure something like this doesn't happen again." He said.

"Can we see her?" A sleepy voice asked. Jeff turned around to see John sitting up, slowly waking up and hearing the end of their conversation.

"Yes you can. She is in the same room as before, so feel free to go when you're ready." He said, walking out before Jeff could thank him.

"Why don't you wake your brothers and meet me down there. Don't leave this room without Angela." He said, nodding to the door that the woman was stood outside of, on the phone to a detective. John nodded and Jeff left the room, Alan still in his arms. He nodded to Angela as he passed and walked to Evie's room, taking a breath before walking in.

If you hadn't known what had happened, there was no way you would have been able to tell that anything had happened. She looked the exact same as before, her brown hair lying over her shoulders and her eyes still firmly closed. He sat down on the chair next to him, moving Alan so that he was resting on his lap with his head on his chest, and grabbed her hand. He knew they had a long road ahead of them, but he didn't know how long.

_Later that night…_

Alan looked around the room, noticing that everyone was asleep. John, Scott, Virgil and Gordon were all asleep on the sofa, Gordon stretched out across his brothers. Jeff was in the armchair by the door, his head lolling to the side. He had moved to that chair not long ago after Angela made him move, saying that the plastic chair was doing nothing for him. Alan looked back at his sister from where he sat in the chair next to her. He couldn't sleep, and he knew that even the doctors were worried that Evie hadn't woken up yet, even if they refused to admit it.

He stood up and crawled onto Evie's bed, sitting next to her leg. He moved forward and put his head on her uninjured shoulder, holding her hand. "Please wake up Evie. I'm scared."

He felt the hand in his shift and heard a groan. He looked up to see Evie moving her head, so he sat up and tapped her arm. "Evie?" He asked. He watched her eyes flutter open, or rather, the eye that wasn't still swollen.

"Alan?" She mumbled. She saw the excitement on his little face and knew what he was about to do. "Don't shout!" She said before coughing. "Can you get some water?" He nodded and jumped down, running to the other side of the bed where Angela had put a bottle of water and carefully handed it to her. "Thanks." She took a sip and looked around at her sleeping family. "What happened?" She asked, her memory foggy.

"You got hurt and you were sleeping to help get better." He said with a smile, his dimples showing. She smiled at him before looking around the room. She saw everyone asleep and noticed the machines in the unfamiliar room.

"Am I in hospital?" She asked, looking at the heart monitor. Alan nodded in confirmation. "Allie, can you go get a doctor for me? I don't feel too good." He leapt off the bed and ran out of the room, only to return a few minutes later with a doctor.

"Hello Evelyn. I'm your doctor, Isaac Meadows. It's good to see you finally awake." The doctor said, looking at the clipboard at the bottom of her bed. He saw the look on her face and quickly grabbed the bucket under the bed, carefully rolling her onto her side, just as she threw up whatever was left in her stomach. "It's ok. Just breathe." He said, rubbing her back while Alan watched from the door.

"What happened to me?" She asked, looking scared as he helped her back into the bed, raising it a little so she was sat up. Alan climbed back onto the bed and snuggled into her side.

"You have several broken ribs which punctured your lung and caused your breathing to slow. You also have a broken arm and sprained ankle, along with some internal bleeding that we patched up. The sickness is just a side effect of the painkillers we had to give you. We had to take you back into the operating room not long ago as you suffered a cardiac arrest as a result of missed internal bleeding. There is an Officer outside that would like to talk to you." He said, motioning to the door.

"Can I talk to them in the morning? I'm a little tired and I don't want to wake Dad." She said before looking at her younger brother that had fallen asleep by her side. She didn't mention the fact that she was scared of what Richard would do if she said anything.

"Of course. Get some rest. It will speed up your recovery." He said before leaving. Evie looked back at Alan before looking at the rest of her sleeping family. She knew that they wouldn't have gotten much sleep, so decided to leave them as they were. She looked at the paper by her bed and grabbed it, seeing the picture on the front. It was her Dad holding Alan with John and Gordon holding onto his trousers. She read the article and assumed that it was taken outside the hospital. She flicked through the paper, shocked to see that the fact she was in hospital seemed to take priority over the earthquake in China.

She heard a noise and looked to the side to see Scott stirring in his sleep. She knew that he was about to wake up, so she ripped a page off the paper, rolled it up and threw it at him, glad that it was her left arm broken and not her right. It hit the top of his head, making him jump and fall off the sofa. She had to try very hard not to burst out laughing as he stood up, rubbing his back where he hit the floor.

"Stop laughing Evie! It's not funny!" He snapped, sitting back on the sofa and closing his eyes, before jumping up again, running to her bed. "Evie! You're awake!" He exclaimed, careful not to wake his brothers and father.

"No! I'm still asleep." She replied sarcastically.

"I see your little nap didn't get rid of your sarcasm." He replied with a smile. "How long have you been awake?"

"Don't know. Alan was awake so I got him to get a doctor, and then I was sick." She replied in a smooth voice. "How long was I out for?"

"A day." He said, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"A day?" She asked, shocked.

"Evie, what happened? Who did this to you?" She looked up at him, clearly scared, when Angela walked into the room.

"Scott! What are you doing awake!" She asked before realising Evie was awake. "Oh! Evelyn, it is good to see you finally awake! I'm Officer Angela Brown. I wanted to talk to you about what happened, but I need your Dad to be awake since I can't legally talk to you without a parent present… And conscious." She said, looking at Jeff.

"I'll sort that out for you." Evie replied, ripping another page off the paper. She rolled it up like she had done before and winked at Scott. She threw it and it hit Jeff right on his nose, but they got no reaction. She took the next paper ball Scott handed her and tried again. This time, she hit his forehead and he scrunched up his nose. "I know where Virge gets his sleeping ability from now." She mumbled, throwing another ball. This time, it hit his cheek and caused him to open his eyes, before shutting them again.

"5 more minutes." He mumbled, before jumping out of his chair when he realised what he saw. "Evelyn!" He yelled, running over to her and making John, Gordon and Alan to wake up.

"See, that is what I was trying to avoid." Evie mumbled. John and Gordon tried to wake Virgil while Jeff kissed Evie's head. Alan looked around, before shrugging and falling back to sleep, his head resting on Evie's arm.

"How are you?" Jeff asked, looking at her.

"I'm fine Dad." She smiled. "I just woke you up because Officer Brown wanted to talk but she needed you awake."

"Evelyn, it's just Angela. You don't have to call me Officer." Angela smiled. "Now, I need to ask you some questions about what happened."

"Umm… Ok." She replied nervously.

"You don't have to do this now sweetie." Jeff said as Virgil woke up and stood next to Scott. Evie looked at everyone crowding her bed and started to breathe heavily, worried of what they will do when they found out what happened. "Boys, give her some space." The boys all went back to the sofa and sat down, all except Alan who stayed asleep. "It's ok. Don't panic."

"Evelyn?" Angela asked, concerned for the young girl's health. "I can come back later if you want."

"No." She said, getting her breathing back to normal. "I need to do this now."

"Ok. I need you to tell me what happened." Angela said, pulling out her notepad.

"Umm… I started seeing this guy. At first, it was just talking during lunch at school, then Scott convinced me to go out with a friend, so I went to dinner with him. He seemed so nice and he listened to me. I should have seen it." Evie said, looking down. Jeff held her hand and rubbed comforting circles on her palm. "Then, I went to his house a week later, and he did it. I knocked over a glass of water, and he beat me. He made sure to only hit me where my clothes would cover the marks. It went on for a month. I would get hit and beaten for anything I did, and I took it. I wanted to run. I wanted to say something. But I couldn't."

"Why couldn't you say anything?" She asked, looking at the girl that was so close to tears. She quickly put the notepad down and turned on her Dictaphone before grabbing her hand in comfort.

"He threatened to hurt Gordon and Alan if I said anything. He's going to hurt them! I shouldn't have said anything!" She suddenly panicked, her breathing becoming erratic again.

"Evelyn, calm down! You're safe! No one is going to hurt you." Jeff said, brushing her hair with his hand. A few minutes later, she had calmed down.

"Why didn't you fight back? I know you. You would never sit back and take anything like that." Virgil said, getting up and walking over to his twin.

"Because of what he said." She replied, looking down at the sleeping Alan. "The first time he did it, it was just after I opened up to him. I told him about Mum and how guilty I felt. Then, when he first hit me, he said that I deserved it because I killed Mum. He said it every time! And I believed him."

"Evelyn Jane Tracy." Virgil said in a stern voice, making her look at him. "How many times do I have to tell you that it wasn't your fault? What happened happened. There is nothing you can do about it now. You didn't kill Mum, she gave her life saving you!" Evie smiled at him, tears forming in her eyes.

"Evelyn? What happened yesterday? How did you get here?" Angela asked, knowing she needed to get the information from her.

"Umm… I think that Scott, John, Virgil and Gordon knew something was up. They had been following me around all day. I snapped at them and walked off, going to this hidden space behind the bike shed. Then he came in and started shouting at me, thinking I had told them what happened. He hit me and smashed my head on the bike shed. Then he grabbed a metal pole and hit me over and over with it. It hurt so much! But I couldn't make a sound because he would have made it worse. I was so scared! I didn't know what to do!" She cried, tears pouring down her face. "When he stopped, he said that if I told anyone who he was, I would never be safe!"

"It's ok. I'm not going to let him get you." Jeff whispered to her.

"Thank you Evelyn. There is one more thing I need to know." Angela said, putting her hand on Evie's arm. "What's his name?" She saw the panic in Evie's eyes the second the words left her mouth.

"No! I can't say! I can't!" She panicked, her arms moving frantically. Jeff grabbed Alan, passing him to Scott so that Evie wouldn't accidently hurt him.

"Evelyn! Calm down!" He said, trying to stop her from pulling out the wires that monitored her vitals. Her heartbeat was erratic and caused nurses to run through the door to see what was wrong.

"No! Get away from me!" She yelled, fighting against the nurses.

"Evelyn! Listen to me!" Angela said, grabbing Evie's arm and holding it still while Jeff held the other. "If you tell me who it was that did this to you, I will make sure they go to jail for a long time! I will make sure you are safe." She said. Evie didn't seem to be listening to her. Virgil heard a cry and saw that Alan was awake and looking at his sister, looking very scared.

"Evie, you're scaring Alan." He said. Evie stopped fighting and looked at her youngest brother who had tears in his eyes. "Please Evie! Tell her who it was!" Virgil pleaded.

"He'll hurt me!" She whimpered.

"Evelyn, I promise you. No one is going to hurt you. I'll make sure of it." Angela said. The nurses left the room hesitantly, seeing that she was calm. "Who was it?"

"I don't know his last name. He is in Scott's year though." She said, looking at Scott. "His name's Richard."

"Richard Smith?" Scott asked, seeing her nod her head.

"His Mum works for you Dad." She whispered. Jeff realised who she was talking about and felt his anger rise.

"Thank you Evelyn. I'll make sure there is at least one Officer at the door at all times." Angela said, leaving the room to get the information back to the station.

"I'm sorry Dad. I'm so sorry!" She cried. Jeff sat on the bed and pulled her into his arms, hugging her to his chest.

"It's not your fault Evelyn. It's not your fault." He whispered, thinking back to 5 years ago when he said the exact same thing to her. "You're safe now. No one is going to hurt you or your brothers."

"No. But we're gonna hurt him." Scott said, putting Alan down on the sofa and marching towards the door, John and Virgil behind him.

"Stop right there! Don't even think about leaving this room." Jeff ordered, making the 3 boys stop and look over at him. "No one is going anywhere. The last thing we need is for you to be arrested."

"I am not going to let him get away with hurting my sister!" Scott exclaimed.

"He's not going to get away with it! He is going to go to jail for a long time." Jeff replied, helping Evie to lie back on the bed.

"That's not good enough!" Virgil said.

"Well tough." Evie snapped, making them look over at her. "I know what he's like and I am not going to let you get close to him."

"You don't have a choice." Virgil snapped, turning back to the door.

"Virgil Grissom Tracy. Take one more step and I will never forgive you." She yelled, making him freeze. "Please. I don't want you to get hurt!" She said, tears springing to her eyes. Virgil turned back to her and walked up to the bed, grabbing her hand.

"Evie, what would you do if it was me on that bed and not you? You would do the exact same thing and don't even think of saying you wouldn't!" He said, looking at her determined face.

"Of course I would. But I would wait until if and when the bastard got out of jail before sending them to hell." She said with a small smile. Virgil gave her a smile and climbed onto the bed, pulling her into his arms. She soon fell asleep with her head on his chest and he fell asleep soon after. Jeff smiled at his twins and knew that he would make more of an effort from now on.

**Here you go guys! A bit of fluff in this chapter!**

**Please review and let me know what you think.**

**Emma**


	11. Chapter 11

The beginning

Chapter 11

Jeff walked into Evie's hospital room to see Evie and Gordon trying to act innocent and Scott and John fast asleep on the sofa. Alan was watching the TV with Virgil. "What are you two laughing at?" He asked, handing Evelyn the laptop he grabbed for her when he went home to get some clothes for all of them.

"Nothing." They replied together, making him raise an eyebrow.

"I am going to pretend that you aren't up to something." He said, putting the bag on the table. Virgil looked back at the 2 with a smile as they put their plan into action.

Just as Jeff let go of the bag, a small block fell off the table and onto the trip pad on the floor, pulling a wire that caused a bucket carefully placed above the 2 older brothers to fall, covering them with water, before another fell and covered them in flour. The both woke up with a start and jumped up. They looked at each other and then at Evie and Gordon.

"You two!" Scott seethed. Virgil was in hysterics and Jeff had given up trying to hide his laughter. 2 flour covered boys was not threatening in the slightest.

"Don't look at me. I'm not allowed to move from this bed." Evie said with a cheeky smile. They directed their gaze to Gordon, who realised what Evie had done.

"It was her idea! I just set it up!" He said, backing away from them.

"But since Evie is already in hospital, I think they'd better get another bed set up." John said. Gordon took one look at them and ran out of the room, Scott and John hot on his heels.

"Let's hope they don't get into trouble." Jeff said, sitting next to Evie as the laughter died down.

"You're not going to tell us off?" She asked, looking very hopeful.

"This is the first time I have seen you laugh since you woke up! I'm not going to spoil that." He replied with a smile. He looked over at Virgil and Alan and sighed. "Evelyn, I am sorry that I haven't been there for you since your mother died. I thought that I was doing what was best for you."

"What gave you that idea?" She asked sarcastically.

"I know. I was stupid. I didn't think that you needed me anymore, and burying myself in my work was the only way I could think of to stop the hurt I felt. From now on, I am going to be there for all of you and I am not going to leave you again." He said, kissing her head. "I'm sorry that it took you being hurt for me to see that."

"Dad, we know. Sure I was mad at you for leaving us to start with, but I get it. And please don't blame yourself for this. It isn't your fault and if I think that you are blaming yourself, I'll get Gordon to help me with a prank on you." She replied with a smile.

"You wouldn't dare." He replied with a smile as Scott and John dragged Gordon back into the room by his ears. "I hope you didn't get on anyone's nerves."

"Actually, the doctors and nurses said that they were glad we were actually smiling, and some of the patients thanked us for a good laugh." John said, dropping the red-head onto the sofa.

"So that means we're off the hook?" Evie asked with an angelic smile.

"Not by a long shot. But we'll wait until you're out of here before our payback." Scott replied, ruffling her hair.

"Hey! Stitches!" She yelped as Scott nudged the cut of her head.

"Oh Shit. Sorry Belle." He said, looking extremely guilty.

"Language Scott." Jeff said with a small smile as Evie moved her hand. She had Scott right where she wanted him. She pulled out the pie that had been covered by the newspaper and smacked it into his face. It fell to the floor, leaving the cream and sauce covering his face. Everyone was in hysterics as Scott wiped the cream out of his eyes and looked at his sister. "You look a little pale there son." Jeff laughed, glad they were all happy.

"Oh, you are so gonna pay for this!" Scott said to Evie, unable to keep the smile off his face.

"You're smiling, it's fine!" She said with a laugh. One of Evie's favourite things was saying that she wasn't in trouble because whoever she pranked was smiling.

"It is far from fine Missy!" He said. He wiped some of the cream off his face, before smearing it on Evie's. "Now it's fine." Evie flicked some more cream at him before Jeff decided to intervene.

"Scott, go wash your face. The last thing we need is a food fight in here. Here." He said, handing Evie a towel to wipe her face as Scott left the room. "Was that necessary?"

"Of course! You said it yourself. Scott doesn't have any fun!" She said with a smile, flicking some cream at him.

"Don't start that! You will lose." He said with a laugh.

"You think?" She challenged. Before anything could happen, Angela walked into the room, dragging the still flour and cream covered Scott behind her.

"So, would one of you like to tell me why Scott is walking down the hall covered in flour and cream?" She asked before looking at the remains of the pie on the floor and the still flour covered John. "Actually, I don't want to know." She said as Scott walked over to the bed and sat next to Evie's leg.

"What can we do for you Angela?" Jeff asked, picking the pie up and putting it in the bin. Alan ran over to the bed and crawled to Evie's side, sitting with his back against her side facing Angela. Evie passed Scott the towel so he could wipe his face.

"I wanted to talk to you all." She said as Virgil, Gordon and John all walked over to the bed. Virgil held onto Evie's hand as he saw the seriousness of Angela's face. "We arrested Richard and received the DNA results back from the metal pole he used which clearly links him to this. However, his uncle is a lawyer and he knows the law system. He's pleading not guilty."

"What? But he did this!" Evie said, looking scared.

"I know, and so does everyone else. But at the minute, all the evidence we have is circumstantial and he knows it. There is no footage of him near the bike shed and he is claiming that he used the pole for an experiment and that is how his DNA got there. There was no DNA on your clothes from him and there is nothing that says he was there when it happened." She replied. Evie's eyes filled with tears.

"But you promised me he would go to jail! You promised!" She exclaimed. Jeff sat next to her and pulled her to his chest, being careful of her broken ribs.

"I know. And we will get him to jail. I have a recording of your statement and that will help tremendously. But in the end, it's your word against his. We need some substantial evidence that it was him that did it. And I need you to testify in court." Angela said.

"What? I can't! You said I wouldn't have to see him again!" She cried to Jeff.

"I know. I'm sorry honey." He said, kissing her hair. "Is there nothing we can do?"

"Unless Evelyn is willing to testify in court and we have evidence clearly stating that it was Richard that did this, then he walks." She said, looking at all of the Tracy's, knowing they wouldn't like what she had to say next. "There is one more thing. His lawyer is trying to get bail."

"WHAT?!" 5 voices shouted. Evie looked thoroughly scared, while her brothers and father looked angry. Little Alan just looked confused.

"How can they let him out after what he did?" Scott asked, trying not to punch something.

"Because there is no evidence to suggest that he is a danger to anyone." Angela said. She saw the look on their faces and knew what the boys were thinking. "Let's get one thing straight, I am going to make sure that there is at least two Officers on patrol at this hospital at all times until Richard is put behind bars. And if any of you even think of going after him, then you will have me to answer to and I will not protect you." She snapped before her expression softened. "I will sort this out. If he is granted bail, then I will make sure he doesn't get anywhere near this hospital, or your sister. But I need you to help me get some substantial evidence. Evelyn, is there anything you have that can pin him to this?"

"No. The only thing there could be is camera footage, but the cameras by the bike shed have been broken for years." She said, looking scared.

"Ok. I'll find something, and then I will put him behind bars." She said before leaving the room. Scott got up and started pacing while Jeff ran after Angela to talk to her in private.

"There has to be something we can do!" John said, looking out of the window.

"What's going on?" Alan asked, looking confused and scared. Virgil brushed the young boy's blonde fringe out of his face.

"The boy the hurt Evie is not in jail and may come after her." He whispered. Alan's eyes widened before he crawled up to Evie and sat with his back straight and his hand on her shoulder.

"I won't let him hurt her!" He declared, making the twins smile.

"There is something we can do." Gordon said, suddenly looking up. "Well, there are 2 things actually, but there is no way we are doing the first!"

"What's wrong with the first option?" John asked, looking at the red-head as Scott stopped pacing. The eldest Tracy saw the look Gordon gave Evie and knew what he was thinking.

"NO! No way!" He snapped, making Gordon look guilty.

"I wasn't going to say we did it! There is no way I could suggest that!" He protested.

"What?" Evie asked, looking worried.

"One option, and I'm not saying we're going to do it, is to use you as bait and see what Richard does." Gordon replied, making Virgil and John jump.

"No!" They both said immediately.

"It could work." Evie said, making them all look at her like she had 2 heads. "Think about it! We could set up a camera and catch the whole thing on tape! And ask Angela to get some Officers on standby in case he does anything."

"I am not letting him near you again!" Scott declared, putting an end to the conversation. "What's the other option?"

"We confront him and record him admitting that he did it." Gordon said.

"I like that idea." John replied.

"No! I am not letting you do that!" Evie snapped.

"You can't stop us Evie." Scott said, making her face fall.

"No, but we can." They spun to see Angela and Jeff stood in the doorway. "I already told you. I am not going to protect you if you do anything to him!" Angela said, looking at the determination on their faces.

"We aren't going to hurt him! All we're going to do is trick him into telling us everything he did and record it! Then you'd have the evidence to put him away!" John said, looking at Jeff. "Please Dad. We have to do this!"

Jeff sighed and nodded. "I know son. But only you and Scott are going to go. Angela and some more Officers can keep an eye on you." He said, nodding to Angela.

"I'll set it up." She sighed, leaving the room to make the call.

"Please don't do this." Evie pleaded one last time, but she knew it wouldn't work.

"I'm sorry Evie. But we are doing this." Scott said, kissing her hand. Now they just had to put the plan into action.

**Here you go. I'm going to do quite a few more chapters, hopefully. I'll let you know when I decide how many more there are going to be.**

**Please review and let me know what you think.**

**Emma**


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